Courtesy: Sri.Bryan Hill
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अथ होवाच ब्राह्मणा भगवन्तो यो वः कामयते स मा पृच्छतु सर्वे वा मा पृच्छत यो वः कामयते तं वः पृच्छामि सर्वान्वा वः पृच्छामीति ते ह ब्राह्मणा न दधृषुः ॥५.९.२७॥
तान् हैतैः श्लोकैः पप्रच्छ
यथा वृक्षो वनस्पतिः तथैव पुरुषोऽमृषा । तस्य लोमानि पर्णानि त्वगस्योत्पाटिका बहिः ॥
त्व च एवास्य रुधिरं प्रस्यन्दि त्वच उत्पटः । तस्मात्तदा तृणात् प्रैति रसो वृक्षादिवाऽऽहतात् ॥
मांसान्यस्य शर्कराणि किनाटं स्नाव तत्स्थिरम् । अस्थीन्यन्तरतो दारूणि मज्जा मज्जोपमा कृता ॥
यद् वृक्षो वृक्णो रोहति मूलान्नवतरः पुनः । मर्त्यः स्विन् मृत्युना वृक्णः कस्मान्मूलात् प्ररोहति ॥
रेतसा इति मा वोचत जीवतस्तत्प्रजायते । धानारुह इव वै वृक्षोऽञ्जसा प्रेत्य सम्भवः ।
यत्समूलमावृहेयुर्वृक्षं न पुनराभवेत् ॥ मर्त्यः स्विन् मृत्युना वृक्णः कस्मान्मूलात् प्ररोहति ।
जात एव न जायते कोन्वेनं जनयेत् पुनः ॥ विज्ञानमानन्दं ब्रह्म रातिर्दातुः परायणं तिष्ठमानस्य तद्विद इति ॥५.९.२८॥
" Then, yAjJNavalkya said: Revered brAhmaNas! Whoever among you desires to ask questions to me, he may ask, or else all of you may ask. Similarly, I will ask questions to whomsoever you name among you or else I will ask questions of all you. The brAhmaNas did not come forward.
Then, yAjJNavalkya asked them by the following shlokas:
Just as the word vR^ixa conveys the true characteristic of a tree, the word purushha conveys the true characteristic of a jIva. (A tree has the characteristic of being cut down, while the jIva has the characteristics of being eternal. Only his body perishes)
The hairs of the body possessed by a jIva are its leaves and his skin is its outer bark. From the skin the blood flows forth and sap from the skin of the tree. Therefore, when a man is wounded, blood flows as sap from a tree that is struck. Flesh is its inner bark, nerves are tough like inner fibres. The bones are the wood within and the marrow resembling the pith.
When a tree is cut it comes up again from its roots. Similarly, when a person's body is taken away by death, he gets another body from another person (in another birth), but what is the independent and primary source of the tree and the person getting the body (when he loses all the traces of a body in mahApralaya). Do not say it is from retas, because, that can happen only from another living person(in mahApralaya no such person is there). The tree, though arises from the seed, it is not its primary and independent cause.
When a tree is uprooted will it not grow? When a person is taken away by death will he not be again? What is the primary and independent cause of a tree and a person? The brAhmaNas did not come forward to answer these questions of yAjJNavalkya. Then yAjJNavalkya himself answered: The cause is brahman, who has infinite knowledge, infinite bliss and is guNapUrNa. He is ever arisen and therefore never born. He bestows all desires of His worshippers and He is the final resort of one who knows and meditates upon Him."
Explanation:
(1) The question raised and the answer given by yAjJNavalkya himself constitutes the ultimate teaching of this brAhmaNa, this upanishhat, and the entire sacred literature. The question asked by shAkalya related to the hierarchy of the deities and the Supreme God. After answering that question yAjJNavalkya raises here the fundamental question as to who is the ultimate cause of all and answers that He is brahman. The three most important attributes of brahman viz., His having infinite knowledge, infinte bliss and infinite attributes are brought out here.
(2) To understand the nature and the scope of the question raised here and the answer given, it is necessary to correctly understand the simile of the tree given here.
Firstly, the expression purushho.amR^ishhA (पुरुषोऽमृषा) has to be understood as purushha amR^ishhA(पुरुषः अमृषा), but not as purushhaH mR^ishhA(पुरुषः मृषा). Before comparing vR^ixa and purushha in respect of their birth, destruction and ultimate cause, it is stated in this very opening line that both vR^ixa and purushha are amR^ishhA i.e., REAL. If one takes the reading of the text as mR^ishhA i.e., UNREAL, and states that both are unreal, then the whole comparison becomes unnecessary and purposeless. Therefore, the text reading has to be taken as amR^ishhA i.e., REAL.
The next point is, the expression vR^xa and vanaspati should not be taken as synonyms or one as the adjective of the other. This does not serve any purpose. These two have to be taken as subject and predicate. vanaspati is the subject referrring to tree and vR^ixa is the predicate bringing out its characteristic of being cut down i.e., perishable nature. Thus, stating the perishable nature of the tree, the perishable nature of the body of a person, the permanent nature of the spirit is intended to be conveyed here. This makes a detailed comparison of a tree and that of a body in the following shlokas meaningful. The tree and the body are perishable, but REAL. The spirit is permanent and true. One has to find out the cause of these. To trace the ultimate cause of these a comparison of the perishable aspect and permanent aspect is explained, first in this comparison. Such a comparison is meaningful only if both are REAL.
Then, the next point is, what is the cause of a perishable tree, a perishable body and the permanent spirit assuming the body again, even after the mahApralaya when no remnant of the cause of a physical body persists. Normally, the seed and the roots are the causes of a tree and retas the cause of a body. However, the present inquiry is not about a routine physical cause, like seed or retas. It is about the primary and fundamental cause. That is brahman. Therefore, to inform that the brahman is the ultimate cause is the driving point here. It is further added that one need not seek a further cause to brahman. He is ever - present, He is not born. One who worships Him gets all desires and one who meditates upon Him reaches the final goal.
knr
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If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God
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